


No Harm in Asking

by thinlizzy2



Category: Brooklyn Nine-Nine (TV)
Genre: Declarations Of Love, Developing Relationship, F/F, Secrets
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-11
Updated: 2017-07-11
Packaged: 2018-11-15 13:21:54
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 3,068
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11231865
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thinlizzy2/pseuds/thinlizzy2
Summary: Five questions Amy Santiago asks Rosa Diaz over the years and five lessons she learns along the way.





	1. Where?

**Author's Note:**

  * For [thesleepingsatellite](https://archiveofourown.org/users/thesleepingsatellite/gifts).

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> She had only been out of the academy for a couple of months when she learned that it wasn't any easier to make friends at work than it had been at school.

"Welcome back! Did you have a nice vacation?" Amy Santiago asked, twisting her face into a friendly smile. She'd never been much good at talking to people and the truth was that Rosa Diaz scared the hell out of her. Still, she was determined to keep trying, and what could be more neutral and easy to chat about than holidays? 

Diaz scowled at her in response. "I didn't take a vacation." 

Amy blinked. "Sure you did. You've been gone for two weeks." 

"No, I wasn't." Diaz moved past Amy to her desk, picking up all the mail that had piled up over the last ten work days. "I've been right here." 

"But-" Amy wasn't sure how to continue this. She knew what she knew and Diaz had been away. The desk had been empty. Amy had taken notes at meetings for her in case she'd want them when she got back. These were facts. 

Diaz's glare was poisonous. "You calling me a liar, Santiago?" 

And Amy was one hundred percent sure that was the case, but she was also sure as heck not going to pursue it. "No..." 

"Good." Diaz turned her attention back to her mail. "Do you actually _want_ anything?" 

"I'm just gonna... you know..." Amy gestured backwards over her own shoulder. "Go over there for a bit." 

"Good plan." Diaz sniffed. "Could you not bug me again without a reason today? I've got a lot of catching up to do." 

Amy's mouth fell open but nothing came out. After a long, mute moment she spun around on her heels and headed towards the water cooler. That was a mistake because it put her right next to Scully, but anything was better than where she'd just been. 

"That woman is impossible." Amy hissed, filling up her little paper cup. "I didn't do anything to her, and she _hates_ me." 

"Who? Diaz?" Scully twisted his bulky neck around to look. "I always thought you two were such great friends." 

"What are you talking about?" Amy genuinely couldn't understand how it was that Scully was a detective. 

"Sure. I mean, no one else can make her laugh like you do." 

Amy stared at him incredulously, but without meaning to her eyes slid past him and back over to Diaz. She definitely wasn't laughing but, unless Amy was mistaken, there actually _was_ the tiniest hint of a smile on the other woman's face. Then she hunched her back over a document and her hair blocked the view but that little glimpse had been enough. For the second time in five minutes, Amy Santiago had been rendered speechless. 

She never would have guessed that Diaz was so pretty when she smiled.


	2. Who?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> She was just beginning to establish a reputation for investigations when she learned her hunches weren't always good.

Amy had five drinks in her and was in her weirdly confident phase of drunkenness. Otherwise she never would have dared to ask the question, but the idea had been torturing her for months now and she just _had_ to know. With her impulse control shot to hell she stumbled forward and grabbed Diaz's arm, tugging her into a corner. "Need to talk to you. C'mon." 

Diaz followed, brows furrowing. "What is it, Santiago. It's my shot." 

Shit, she was carrying a pool cue and Amy did _not_ want to do this while Diaz had anything on her that could be used as a weapon. Still, she was dangerous enough even empty-handed and Amy knew this couldn't wait anymore. If she lost her buzz she might never work up enough nerve to ask for the truth. 

She leaned in trying not to get distracted by how unbelievably good Diaz smelled. She wanted to whisper but the question sounded oddly loud when she finally found the voice for it. 

"Are you mobbed up?" 

And then the world was spinning around her or maybe it was just Diaz who grabbed her by the front of her blouse, hefted her up and slammed her against the wall. Amy gasped out loud as the air rushed from her lungs. "What the fuck did you say to me?" 

"I don't know what else it could be!" Amy gasped, dizzy from both the drinks and the situation. "You disappear for weeks at a time and you won't tell anyone where you go. You freak out every time anyone asks you anything about yourself. I've seen your bike; there's no way you can afford that on what we make. I needed to reach you while you were out last week but your contact number goes to a Korean deli. Your email address is fakeaddress@dontbugme.com. What I am supposed to think?" 

"What are you supposed to think?" That pool cue was getting dangerously close to Amy's stomach and she desperately wished she hadn't picked quite so isolated a corner for this little discussion. "You aren't supposed to think anything! Who the hell asked you to give me a second thought anyway?" 

"Nobody told me!" Amy hated the helpless squeak in her voice. "I just can’t help it. I've been thinking about you all the time, ever since we met!" And suddenly the pressure on her chest was gone and Diaz stepped back. Amy desperately sucked in the air. "I want to help you," she insisted. That was what she had meant to say before the alcohol had got her words all mixed up. "If you got involved in something and you're stuck, we can go to the Sarge. He's a good man; he listens. You can work something out. This doesn't have to ruin your life, Rosa." 

It was the first time she had ever called Diaz by her first name. Rosa – it had an awfully soft sound for someone so hard. 

Diaz shook her head. "I'm not involved with the mob, Santiago. I don't need your help." 

Amy nodded. "Okay." 

"Believe me." Rosa's eyes were hard as flint and Amy could not look away. "I'm clean." 

"I do believe you. I promise." Amy held a shaky hand up to her chest. "Cross my heart." 

Diaz snorted. "You're wasted, Santiago. I'm getting you a cab." 

And Amy could only agree that was probably a very good idea.


	3. Why?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> She got everything she thought she wanted and learned that was really only the first step.

Amy's moans turned into screams as Rosa's tongue flicked at her clit with tiny expert motions. Of all the things that she didn't know about her lover - where she came from, why she was with Amy, how long she intended to stay - the name of the person who taught her how to lick pussy so well was possibly the most elusive. Amy was torn between wanting to give that person a hearty thanks and wanting to lock them up in a forgotten maximum security jail cell so that they could never come near Rosa again. And then Rosa's skillful fingers got involved in the action and Amy forgot both gratitude and jealousy in the explosion of pleasure. 

Rosa lifted her head, grinning triumphantly. "I fucking love it when you make those noises," she announced, kissing her way up Amy's torso to her mouth. Amy could taste her cunt on Rosa's lips and it made her hungry for more. She wanted to slide down Rosa's body, part her legs, and feast on what she found there but Rosa had made it clear that while she was happy to give she wasn't quite ready to take and Amy had promised to respect that. So instead she just deepened the kiss, drawing as much of Rosa's tongue into her mouth as her lover would allow. 

Sometimes Amy thought she would like to swallow Rosa whole. Other times she thought that was exactly what she'd have to do just to get her to stay the night. 

Sure enough, Rosa pushed up and away from her, already scanning the floor for her abandoned clothes. "Thanks for a great night," she said, fastening her bra. "I'll see you in the morning, okay?" 

Amy nodded, pulling the duvet up over her breasts. She meant to give her practiced casual 'sure' in response, but what came out was entirely different. 

"Are you married?" 

There was very little that could stop Rosa once she started getting ready to leave but that question seemed to do it. She stood in the middle of Amy's bedroom, one boot on and one off. "What?" 

Amy forced her eyes to meet Rosa's. She hadn't planned this - and she wished so much that she was wearing clothes for it - but now that it had begun she knew she needed to finish it. "You never stay the night. I've never met anyone in your family. I've never even been to your apartment. You don’t let me touch you in any place where a mark might be suspicious. You're good at deductive work; you know what that all adds up to. So. Are you married, Rosa?" 

Rosa shoved on her other boot, and sat at the foot of Amy's bed. She buried her face in her hands for a long moment and Amy wondered if she was crying. But when she lifted her head her eyes were dry. "What if I was? What would you do then?" 

"I'd still want you." The words came out with no forethought but Amy knew they were true. "I'd be heartbroken and I'd feel guilty as hell, but I'd still want you." She felt vaguely sick. How the hell did she get into this so deep? 

It wasn't supposed to be like this. Important people in the police force were beginning to say her name and the words _future captain_ together in the same sentence. She had led her precinct in felony arrests for nearly a year, her career was taking off just like she'd always hoped it would, her father was prouder of her than he had ever been. And still, with all that happening, she was breaking her heart over a mystery woman who was possibly someone else's wife. It didn't make any sense. 

"I'm not married." Rosa's words were like light breaking through thick clouds. "There are some things I can’t tell you, Amy. There are some things I don't know if I'm ever going to want to tell anyone. But I'm not married. There's no one else." 

Amy nodded and settled back down on the pillows. Relief coursed through her veins like a drug, numbing the fear and pain. She wondered how long that could last. She needed to ride the high while she had it. "Then I wish you'd stay." She closed her eyes and let Rosa make her own choice.


	4. Do?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> She learned that stating the obvious was sometimes worth doing.

"Hey," Rosa remarked, roughly halfway through their Nancy Meyers film festival. "Can I ask you something?" 

Rosa initiating conversation was so unusual that Amy pulled herself away from Jack Nicholson and Diane Keaton declaring their age appropriate love for each other to focus on the far more interesting situation on the sofa. "Sure." She pulled a piece of pepperoni off the slice of pizza in her lap and popped it into her mouth. "What's up?" 

"Do you love me?" 

Amy very nearly choked on the circle of meat. "What?" 

"You heard me." Nothing had changed in Rosa's usual gruff voice and blank expression. But Amy would have sworn she somehow looked nervous. 

"Well... what exactly are you asking me here?" Amy's heart was racing. She had pictured this conversation a million times, but she had always been the one initiating it and steering it to where she wanted it to be. Never, in all her carefully laid plans, had she imagined Rosa blindsiding her like this. "Do you want to know if I see a future for us, if we should let our colleagues know about our relationship, if it's time for us to discuss moving in-" 

"I don't care about any of that shit." Rosa cut her off with an impatient gesture. "I just wanna know if you love me. Yes or no. It's not that hard a question." 

There was no arguing with that. "Okay, then... yes." It felt even better to finally say it out loud than she had imagined it would. "Yes, I love you, Rosa. Very much." 

"Good." With a curt nod, Rosa turned to the stack of DVDs. "Do you want to watch _The Intern_ or _The Holiday_ next?" 

"Wait!" Amy couldn't keep up with any of this. "Is that it? Are we done talking?" 

"Sure." Rosa shrugged. "I know what I wanted to know. What else is there?" 

Amy wondered, not for the first time, if her lover was possibly a member of an alien race who didn't understand human emotions or relationships. It wasn't her most outlandish theory, and it would make so much sense. "How do _you_ feel?" 

Rosa rolled her eyes. "I said it was good, didn't I? So I'm happy." 

"About me!" Amy was practically shouting. "How do you feel about m-" 

"I love you too." 

And the whole world stopped spinning. Amy felt her mouth drop open. "You do?" 

"Yeah." 

"Wow." Amy drew breath and the air in her lungs felt magical. "So... we love each other. We're in love." 

"Guess so." 

And then suddenly Rosa was smiling at her, a rare, full, undeniable Rosa smile, the most beautiful fucking thing in the world, and Amy knew she was grinning back like an idiot. She wanted to say it more, over and over again. She wanted to recite Shakespeare and Sappho. She wanted every single word to be perfect. She steadied herself. " _The Intern_ , I think." She ate another pepperoni. 

Rosa's smile grew one more impossible degree. "Good choice."


	5. Will?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> She learned that some things are not meant to be fully understood.

It had become a running joke with them. _You're a Soviet sleeper agent living deep undercover_ , Amy might guess one day. The next week it would be _You're a time traveler from an alternate future who got lost in the continuum._ And Rosa would shrug or shake her head. _Sorry, Amy. Better luck next time._ Amy didn't really mind. Rosa being a mystery had long been part of her regular life. And she trusted Rosa to tell her if there was something she really needed to know.

Still, when Rosa turned into the driveway of a tiny little cottage that looked like nothing so much as a scene from a Beatrix Potter story, Amy had to admit that sometimes all she knew about Rosa was that she was constantly making herself unknowable.

The women both started shedding clothes as soon as they entered the house but Amy still noticed that the place was just as charming on the inside as it was from outdoors. They had barely made it to the bedroom when Amy tugged Rosa's jeans and panties off in one quick movement, leaving her lover sprawled naked and glorious on top of a hand-stitched quilt. She took a moment to admire the sight: hard muscles and soft curves, dark brown peaks crowning perfect breasts, the patterns the sun through the lacy curtains made on golden skin. And then she gave into temptation, covering Rosa's body with hers and kissing her deeply. Rosa arched up into her embrace, returning the kiss with equal passion. 

"I can't believe this is where you go whenever you leave town." Amy laughed, cupping one of Rosa's breasts in her hand and relishing how her nipple hardened in response. She bent her head to lick it, and Rosa growled with pleasure. "Your secret bolt-hole. I was imagining some kind of urban dungeon or something." 

"I've got one of those too. I've got lots of places." Rosa pushed herself off the bed, grinding her crotch against Amy's. 

"Lots of places?" Despite herself and her hormones, Amy still couldn't help but be intrigued whenever Rosa voluntarily gave up any detail about her life. Just being here, in the cabin no one would have imagined she had, was almost as thrilling and intimate as making love. "How can you afford _lots of places_?" She poked Rosa gently in the stomach. "We make the same salary."

"You want to talk about mortgage rates right now?" Rosa gave her a sharp jab in the ass with one foot. "I'll take you to all of them. Later. Not now. Now is for fucking." 

"We've got all week," Amy laughed. Rosa wanting and needy and begging for it was such a beautiful new phenomenon that she loved to savor it whenever she could. She moved to Rosa's other breast and gave it a kiss with just a hint of teeth. "What other places could there be? Do you have a castle in Spain? A chalet in Switzerland?" She gave that beautiful breast a slightly rougher bite and Rosa hissed out her desire "A mansion in the Hollywood Hills where you hang out with movie stars?"

"All of them." Rosa claimed a fierce kiss and Amy's heart sung in response. "And a permanent set of rooms at Buckingham Palace. A Bat-Cave and a space station and an ice fort in Antarctica. And we can go there whenever you want, if you'll please just get on with screwing me already!"

Pretending to comply, Amy licked a stripe down Rosa's belly. But she lifted her head right before she got to the spot where she knew Rosa wanted her the most. "Sounds awfully pedestrian. I can go to Antarctica by myself if I want to. I want to go to other worlds. Can you take me to whatever world you come from? Because I know you're definitely not from this one." Rosa moaned in frustration and Amy deliberately misunderstood her. "I've finally got it, haven't I? You're... a spy. No, a warrior. No, a _princess_. That's it. Princess Emily Goldfinch, run away from an arranged engagement in a parallel universe, hiding out disguised as a tough cop, waiting for a brave detective to come along and rescue her with scads and scads of sex." She rubbed Rosa's clit with her thumb, loving the wetness she felt and the noises that went along with it. "Is that it, Rosa? If you want me to fuck you, tell me I've finally got you." 

"You do, Amy." And there was something small and frightened in her voice beyond the joke that made Amy forget all about sex for a second. Her chest clenched tightly. "You've got me."

"It's okay." Amy made her voice as soft and reassuring as she could. "You've got me too." 

And she waited for Rosa to smile one more time before lowering her head to the place where her lover needed her to be.

**Author's Note:**

> Written for thesleepingsatellite for Not Prime Time 2017. I loved your letter and tried to write more directly for one of your prompts, but the fic kind of took its own turn. I've still tried to include it in some way, and I hope you're happy with the result.


End file.
